{"product_id":"the-conquest-that-never-was-w-george-lovell-9780271101422","title":"The Conquest That Never Was: Pedro de Alvarado and the Delusion of Peru","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Conquest That Never Was\u003c\/i\u003e uncovers one of the most ambitious but disastrous campaigns of the early colonial period. Pedro de Alvarado--best known as Cortés's lieutenant in Mexico and later as the conqueror of Guatemala--sought to extend his fame and fortune by seizing Quito in the northern Inca Empire. Instead, his massive fleet and army met ruin in the high Andes, leaving Alvarado humiliated and forcing him to transfer his forces to rival conquistadors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis volume traces Alvarado's career after Guatemala, focusing on the ill-fated expedition of 1534 as well as his unrealized license to conquer the Spice Islands, his involvement in the Spanish conquest of Ecuador, and his eventual death in battle in Mexico. Drawing on transatlantic correspondence, legal testimony, Spanish chronicles, and a Maya-authored history, Lovell reconstructs both the trajectory of Alvarado's campaigns and the mind of a conquistador driven by greed and glory. Vivid descriptions carry readers from Guatemala's rainforests to the snowbound passes of the Andes, revealing how fragile imperial ambitions could be in practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy documenting Alvarado's failed bid to contest Pizarro in Peru, \u003ci\u003eThe Conquest That Never Was\u003c\/i\u003e complicates the triumphalist narrative of Spanish expansion. It illuminates the contradictions, rivalries, and violence at the heart of the colonial project, while foregrounding Indigenous labor and suffering in conquest. Designed for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses, the book also offers scholars of Latin American history, historical geography, and the Andes a gripping case study of imperial aspiration and collapse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e W. George Lovell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0271101423\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780271101422\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penn State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/05\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 148\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.49lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.41d","brand":"W. George Lovell","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48112739451135,"sku":"9780271101422","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e304c2dc-4b5f-4602-a68a-fb5b8d2e1a13.jpg?v=1769610610","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-conquest-that-never-was-w-george-lovell-9780271101422","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}